This takes place between the end of Wolverine and the beginning of X-Men. This is an explanation of what Victor was doing while Logan was roaming the world in search of his memories, and how he came to work for Magneto in the first place. The story will bridge over X-Men II and X-Men III and continue into the indefinite future. I will probably bring in Tony Stark in a cameo as well.
This idea is based on an AU comic sequence which shows Victor has a strong paternal and nurturing side to him - even if he doesn't like admitting it.
All the usual disclaimers - I don't own them, I don't own the universe. Wish I did, then I wouldn't have to work to support my writing addiction.
Feline Sanctuary
He smelled them first. There had to be at least eight, maybe more. It said a lot for how dirty they were that he couldn't get an accurate count. Since the Island incident, he'd been running, laying low, trying to find a way to get by. Striker paid all the bills, and now he was at loose ends. It wasn't so much money as time. He and Jimmy had saved quite a bit, and he'd made a select few investments that built a nice little nest egg, only he wasn't ready to nest.
He was roaming through the back streets of Los Angeles looking for something to keep himself occupied when he found the abandoned building. He set himself up a bolt hole on the top floor, and the second day he woke up to loud noises several floors below him, and the scent of at least eight very dirty cubs crawling around. He growled. He hated dirt, hated filth. He kept himself meticulously clean under most circumstances, and when he couldn't, well God had better help whoever was between him and water when he got out of those circumstances. He'd bathe before going looking for food. He just couldn't stand dirt.
His bolt hole was clean, or as clean as he could get it with the cracks in the window glass and the complete air of decay and desolation the old building seemed to exude through its very wall.
He watched the cubs, silently, for about a week before approaching them. They managed to keep their numbers hidden, and at any one time he never caught more than eight distinct scents. The three oldest couldn't be more than ten or eleven years old, and they were taking care of the rest of them from infant to about seven or eight. The faces were constantly changing and somehow he had a feeling there were other groups out there, and they traded cubs around from one group to another. He wasn't able to figure out of that was by design, or just accident.
The leader of the group in his building was a cub, he thought she was female, about eleven years old that went by the name Rini. There was another cub, a male about the same age that went by Tymi. They managed food for the cubs at least three days a week, but he noticed the infant, it couldn't be more than five or six weeks old, was getting thinner and weaker.
He observed, but he had no intention of sticking his nose in, at least not until Rini came back to the building bloody, and he could tell something else had happened to her. Tymi came back about an hour later, not in much better shape.
"Rini, we can't do this." He said.
"We have to get food for the baby. We can steal for us, but baby stuff is hard...and we can make money doing this." Rini said, cringing as she sat down on the dirty floor. Victor felt a low growl in his throat but bit it back. They didn't need to know he was watching.
"That guy nearly killed you. And you didn't get paid either." Tymi said. "No more, Rini."
"Well I did get his wallet, so I guess I got paid. There's about fifty bucks in it. We can feed her for a while." Rini handed him the folded leather.
"Rini, no more, you scared me." Tymi whimpered, but took the money out of the wallet.
"We've got feed her."
Victor slipped silently away, and up the dilapidated staircase to his own bolt hole. The kid was selling herself and that just made him cringe. He'd killed his share of cubs, hell frails too, but he couldn't stand the males that preyed on young cubs, and here his cub was selling herself to those perverts.
He stopped himself. His cub? When did that happen? He did growl this time, then shrugged. He'd raised Jimmy from that age, he could do it again. He just hoped these cubs were worth his time. He grabbed his bag, and reached down to the bottom. He pulled out a handful of cash. Rini needed medical attention, or she might bleed to death. He could smell that she was bleeding internally.
Tymi wasn't in any better shape but he'd not been molested either, just beat to shit. He slipped silently down the stairs, but this time didn't bother hiding from them as he walked across the floor of the area they were living in. He watched them scatter like rats, looking for some way out.
He just grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.
"You are comin' with me." She tried to take a swipe at him and he just laughed. She needed a bath and medical attention, and was spitting like a cornered cat.
"You leave her alone..." Tymi came at him with a knife, but he just grabbed him by the scruff of his neck too.
"You're coming too.
"You're not taking them!" He heard a small voice, and suddenly he was surrounded by hissing, stabbing cubs, more than he expected, and all of them armed with some kind of weapon. He almost grinned, but tried to shake them off gently. He counted close to twenty.
"I'm not gonna hurt them. The cubs need a doctor." He snarled.
"No doctor." Rini hissed. "They'd just put us in foster homes, split us up."
He thought about that for a second. She was right, and no human was gonna take what was his. He'd allowed himself to claim them, by God he would protect them.
"Well, shit, I ain't gonna let you die." He growled.
"I've lived through worse." She said, and he looked her in the eye. She was telling the truth, and that worried him more than if it had been a lie. He could smell her starting to heal. She was a mutant with a low level healing factor. So was Tymi now that he had them close and could really look at them, hell half the cubs showed some obvious signs of mutation.
"Name's Victor, I live upstairs." He growled as he slowly put the two older kids down.
"You gonna report us?" Tymi said.
"If I was gonna, I'da done it a week ago. You cubs are noisy, and keep me awake at night." He growled. Tymi and Rini exchanged glances.
"Can you get us some baby stuff?" Rini asked.
"Was plannin' on it. Been watchin' ya for a week, you cubs need an adult around."
"NO we don't." Tymi growled.
"Fine, suit yourself. I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me." He turned to walk away. "But first I'm getting that baby food for the squalling rat. Her cryin' gets on my last nerve." He walked out. He half expected them to be gone when he got back with a couple cans of baby formula and bottles, some diapers and a blanket, he also had a sack of real groceries, food growing cubs needed.
They were still there, waiting. He just handed over the stuff and went back up the stairs. He could hear them down there trying to make formula for the baby.
"You have to use water, dummy." Rini said.
"There's no water." Tymi snapped.
"He brought bottled water, dope." She said, and he heard the crack of the top of a bottle of water opening. "Its half this stuff and half water."
He listened the rest of the afternoon as they struggled to get the baby to eat. Finally she seemed to settle down. He couldn't stay here, they couldn't stay here for long. He was going to have to figure out something to do with a bunch of cubs.
He dozed off, trying to come up with a solution.
The next morning he looked in on his way out of the building. They had two kids sitting watch while the rest curled up in a big pile to sleep. He just nodded and walked down the stairs.
He found a pay phone, something that seemed to be disappearing in the world and he cursed the idiots that kept cutting the hand set cords. He dialed a number and waited.
"Flannery and Fiskle, how may I direct your call?"
"Just put one of the assholes on the phone." He growled. He heard her jump in her chair, and then the phone went silent as she transferred him.
"Flannery speaking."
"Creed. I need ta know what I've got near LA?". He said.
"You've told us never to buy property in California."
"I asked what I've got near by, asshole."
"Nothing."
"Okay, what do I have big enough to house up to twenty people at one time and don't say Seattle."
"That limits options, but you have a large ranch in West Texas that you aren't doing anything with at the moment."
"House?"
"It's large, but also has a bunk house and an apartment for a ranch manager."
"Okay get a team out there and clean it up, and I'm gonna need transport for me and a bunch of others."
"There's a small air strip with the property, you can land a fairly large plane. Do you want LAX or one of the smaller strips?"
"One of the smaller ones. And I'm gonna need a housekeeper, preferably someone who's lost a cub."
"I'll make the arrangements. The pickup will be this afternoon." They gave him the airstrip information and the time of the flight.
He just hung up the phone. Getting the cubs out of LA was his first priority. How he was going to convince them to go, he had no clue.
He walked down the street, and picked out a large van. He could pack the cubs in that to take to the airport, he was lucky, the damned thing had a for sale sign on it. He grumbled about how much it cost, but he wasn't going to leave even one of the cubs behind.
He pulled up outside the building and unlocked the side door of the van. He knew he was going to have a fight getting the cubs inside, but he wanted to get them someplace safe.
He stood in the stairwell listening.
"Rini, we could use tha help."
"No, we don't need no grown ups."
"Rini, Kara's sick, she needs a doctor." Tymi said. Victor growled. He could smell it, the baby wasn't doing well today.
"I can help." He said as he walked into the room they were in. The two oldest cubs jumped about three feet in the air and came down snarling. He chuckled at their almost mirrored movements. "I told ya, I ain't gonna hurt ya."
"Can you take Kara to a doctor?" Rini asked him, straightening out of her crouch slowly. Tymi was doing the same.
"I can do better than that. I've got a van outside, and a plane waiting. I've got a big stretch of land out in Texas. Gonna put you cubs on it, with an adult to take care of stuff like doctors and shit." He was pleased with himself for his solution.
"No, you're not. We live here, we know how to make it here. We don't want to go to dumb Texas." Rini snarled at him.
"Well, tough shit. I ain't watchin you lot die of starvation, and I can't help you properly here. I ain't exactly Joe Blow off the streets, and if I get seen pickin' up shit for cubs, the cops are gonna come lookin." He growled.
"We never said you had to help us, besides, how do we know you're not just gonna take us to the cops?" Tymi asked. Victor gave the cub chops, he thought fast and wasn't afraid to speak up.
"Because, if I take you to the cops, then I go down too. I can take care of you cubs in Texas. Its a big ranch, lots of room, not a lot of adults around ta make your lives miserable. Gonna hire one person ta make sure meals are cooked and eaten, doctors don't get suspicious and turn ya in ta social services, and be there in case you need an adult around." He still could smell suspicion from both of them. Good, he didn't want his cubs trusting just anyone.
"What about money? You gotta have money to feed us, and we know how much that takes." Rini said.
"Don't worry about money, I got it ta spare." He growled.
"Well, you ain't lied to us so far..." She started.
"Rini, we don't trust them...they'll break us up, put us in foster homes or worse." Tymi said.
"He got food for the baby without turning us in, 'sides, I'd rather live out away from the city, less chances of getting caught."
"Yeah, and less chances of finding food when this doesn't work."
"You got a better idea?" She snapped at him, and he just shook his head.
"You better not turn us in, or try to separate us." She glared at Victor.
"I promise, you will be safe ,no social services, and you all stay together." Victor held our his hand and she put her small one in it.
The other little ones came crawling out of the woodwork. One of the older ones was carrying the sick baby, and two others were leading toddlers no older than two by the hand.
"Everyone, grab what you want ta keep and get downstairs. We need ta move, I got a plane waiting.
He was surprised again by Rini and Tymi. They worked as a unit, sometimes not even speaking, but knowing what the other wanted. These cubs had to be really desperate to trust an animal like him, but he promised them they'd be safe and he never broke his word.
They managed to get everyone down to ground level and loaded into the van. It was packed tight, even if most of them were littles. The plane was waiting, and he cursed himself for not being specific. It was a small cargo plane. Inside it was set up for passengers, but he knew the insulation wasn't great.
The pilot didn't even turn around, just taxied down the runway as soon as the door was closed. It wasn't going to be a long flight, so he sat down in one of the cramped seats.
"Please, she's sick..." The one holding the infant tried to hand her to him. He growled, but the look in her eyes told him something. She'd seen babies die, and didn't want to hold this one as her small body grew colder.
"Sure." He reached out. He'd never held an infant before, but somehow managed to get it right. Her breathing was labored and he could hear congestion in her lungs. He opened his shirt and tucked her inside where it was warmer and the cold air of the plane wouldn't make things worse. She was fighting, and he could almost feel her willpower to hang on.
He felt something sharp against his skin and looked down. She had claws on the ends of her fingers, and he smiled. She'd scraped his skin in her sleep, and he wiped the small bead of blood away. This cub would bear watching.
She slept through the flight, which told him just how sick she was, They landed on the ranch and taxied almost right up to the big house. He opened the door and lead the ragtag bunch into the kitchen. Inside was a frail, probably in her late twenties. He growled, but she just held her hands out for the baby.
He felt like something had been torn from him when he handed the bundled infant over to the frail.
"She's burning up."
"I know, we need a doctor out here now." He snarled.
She was already dialing a phone. He ignored the muffled conversation and looked at the older cubs.
"Told ya." He said simply.
"Yeah, well its not bed time yet." Rini snarled back. He grinned.
The frail hung up the phone. "The doctor is on his way. He won't ask any questions." She turned to the cubs. "I'm Kayla."
The cubs looked at her suspiciously, but Rini held out a cautious hand. "Rini."
Victor smiled. They'd be well taken care of here. He watched as she managed to get all of them, eighteen in all counting the sick baby, settled into rooms. The only issue was trying to separate Rini and Tymi, and he had a sudden flash of insight.
"Kayla, leave it for now." He said to the frail. "They're used to being together, leave them alone."
"But..."
"No but, I know its not 'age appropriate' but these kids have been working together to keep the rest alive. They're a lot older inside than they are outside, they're mates, don't try to separate them."
He gave the frail credit, she just nodded her head. He didn't know how he knew, but somehow those two cubs had found each other and he wasn't going to force them apart. He'd seen it in the wild, cubs and pups forming their mate bond long before adolescence and these two feral mutants had done the same thing. They were still going to have to wait until they were grown, he'd see to that, but he wasn't going to separate them now, they needed to be able to comfort each other. After things settled in, he'd have a talk with Tymi and move him to another room, but for now, they were just cubs who relied on each other and he wouldn't change that.
The doctor arrived a few minutes later, and Kayla took the infant into the dining room. He stood back and let the doctor examine the baby.
"She's under nourished for her age, which I estimate to be about five weeks. She's developing a case of pneumonia. I brought some antibiotics with me, but she's going to need to eat regularly."
Victor listened as he gave Kayla instructions on how to treat the pneumonia and what formula to buy to help her gain weight. He waited while she showed the doctor out, the baby sleeping quietly in a basket on the floor next to the dining room table.
"I've already got formula and I'm going to give her the antibiotics after she's taken part of a bottle." Kayla said as she came back in.
Victor just nodded, and walked out of the room. The cubs would be safe here. He decided to stick around until they were completely settled, then he could get on the road again.
He found a bedroom that wasn't full of cubs and stretched out on the bed. He didn't understand why he'd done this. They were cubs, cubs die every day, why did he have to save them?
Yeah he'd saved Jimmy, but that was a long time ago, several lifetimes ago, and he had no reason to be surrounded by cubs. It wasn't natural, it wasn't something he'd asked for.
Jimmy was gone. He accepted that. He didn't understand why, but he knew it had something to do with that Fox chick. Her name had been Kayla too. Victor tried to think why she'd been that important to James. She wasn't bad looking, for a frail, and with that power of hers, she could have manipulated Jimmy, but it didn't work on Victor, so it shouldn't have worked on Jimmy.
He shook his head, that had nothing to do with the cubs. He heard a knock on the door and the little girl that had handed him the baby walked in.
"Can I sleep with you. The others won't let me because I have nightmares." She whispered. He let out a sigh. Tomorrow he was leaving for greener cub free pastures. He patted the side of the bed next to him and she climbed up. She couldn't be more than six or seven.
"G'night." She whispered, and curled up in a ball right next to his side. He felt something rumbling in his chest, and slapped his face with his palm. He was purring at the damned cub...but it seemed to work, she was fast asleep. He closed his eyes. Tomorrow he was leaving.